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Thomas and Matthew LaChiusa didn't set out to explore the socioeconomic differences between Niagara Falls, N.Y. and its Canadian counterpart. But that's what "Honeymoon Haunts: A Tale of Two Cities," the latest effort from the Buffalo brothers and filmmaking partners, wound up doing.
Last spring, the pair set out to make a documentary about the funhouses that dot Clifton Hill and Lundy's Lane, urging tourists to exchange a few Canadian dollars for a few minutes of thrills. "They wouldn't let us film inside," said Thomas LaChiusa. "They were afraid of giving away 'trade secrets.' "
So the LaChiusas, whose last effort, "GVI: Life in a Northern Town," chronicled the plight of a Buffalo band struggling to break out of the local music scene, shifted their focus.
The resulting 30-minute documentary premiered last Friday at the Squeaky Wheel Media Resource Center in Buffalo.
Oscar Wilde's typically snide quote -- "Niagara Falls must be the second major disappointment of American married life" -- introduces one segment. But the documentary proves an otherwise loving look at both the falls and the cities that surround them.
Shots of busy Canadian streets and tourist attractions like "Dracula's Haunted Castle" open the documentary, which soon shifts to the boarded-up storefronts and rusting factories of the American side. Niagara Falls, N.Y. has its flattering moments, too, like the image of a newlywed couple getting into a horse-drawn carriage in front of the Ramada Inn and riding down Rainbow Boulevard toward the since-closed Nabisco factory.
The documentary's affectionate tone stems from the brothers' childhood.
"Downtown Niagara Falls is agonizing now," Thomas LaChiusa said after the screening. "I remember going up there as a little kid on family vacations -- it was a quaint little town and now it's all boarded up."
After interviewing business people on both sides of the river, the brothers largely turn the commentary over to dueling historians from each side, with Paul Gromosiak representing Niagara Falls, N.Y.
Both offer unique perspectives on the legacy and future of Niagara Falls. Canadian historian Sherman Zavitz explains the rise of tourism in the area by comparing a trip to the falls to a religious pilgrimage.
"After they had gone to the church services and paid their respects at the shrine, they looked around for something else to do," Zavitz said.
Gromosiak, in turn, said the commercialism of Clifton Hill amounts to blasphemy.
"It's crowded, it's noisy, and full of 'modern conveniences,' but is it really telling people the things that need to be told about this place?" he asked.
While the film raises that question and underscores the problems familiar to locals on both sides of the river, it doesn't endorse any particular solution. While both support preserving the Niagara Reservation State Park, the LaChiusas understand the need for economic development in the city that surrounds it.
"There has to be some sort of middle ground," Thomas LaChiusa said of the conflict between development and preservation. "There's a lot of desolate, empty space. If you want to do something there, do something there. Just don't destroy the park system."
The brothers, with funding from the Niagara Council for the Arts, made the documentary for about $1,000. Shooting and editing with digital equipment, rather than film or video, helped keep costs down.
The documentary is available for screenings in Niagara Falls, LaChiusa said. For more information, contact Linwood Productions at 886-9763 or via e-mail at desi1995@aol.com.